Our tour was accompanied by a group of college professors who provided daily lectures on the places we were visiting. Among them was James Robertson, author of National Geographic’s recent book, “The Untold Stories of the Civil War.” One of those stories describes the origin of “Taps,” the most emotional and familiar military bugle call. Since its inception in 1862 as a military signal to extinguish lights at days end, Taps is also sounded at military funerals, flag lowering, and memorial ceremonies. Robertson arranged to have our tour present at the moment the Vicksburg National Military Park lowered its own flag. My vantage point places this bugler against a setting sun, his fingers pressing the valves that produce the call’s poignant tones. This ceremony at Vicksburg honors the memory of the armies, North and South, that fought and died here 150 years ago. The first and most familiar verse of "Taps" well defines the moment seen in this image: “Day is done, gone the sun, from the hills, from the lake, from the skies. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.”